Umbrellas and rain hats have long been used to protect individuals from rain and other weather conditions. Certainly in part as a result of the universality of the need, a significant amount of effort has been directed toward developing advantageous ways to provide such protection.
Four somewhat varied approaches are disclosed in Deluermoz French Pat. No. 398,134, Nitu U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,160, Whiteside U.S. Pat. No. 1,398,165, and Myers U.S. Pat. No. 2,140,647. Thus, in Deleurmoz, a support brace rests on the shoulders of a bearer and support elements about the head of the bearer have cloth disposed thereover. The appearance when worn, apart from the shoulder brace, and the mode of use when worn, are comparable to a traditional bonnet. As with such bonnets, the face is left open to the effects of the wind and other elements. In Nitu, an inflatable, double-layered, ball-type "unbrella" is held to the body of a bearer by a cord disposed about the upper torso. The umbrella is inflated by trapping air between the layers which are welded together. In Whiteside, a cover for the upper part of the body is in the nature of a sack, held about the torso by a drawstring. In Myers, a somewhat conventional umbrella structure is mounted and supported on the head of a bearer and collapsible when removed from the head.
Teaff U.S. Pat. No. 3,708,803 is similar to Deluermoz, but in the specific context of a coiffure protector.
Although adapted for use as a protective helmet, e.g., for a welder, apparatus disclosed in Gyorfy U.S. Pat. No. 3,026,525 may have some relevance. Thus, a protective helmet supported on the head, includes a front mask of the type conventionally employed by a welder. A pleated hood, which expands and contracts as the mask is moved down and up, respectively, is employed with the mask, which may be detached from the hood. German Pat. No. 243,400 is somewhat similar in disclosing a member that may be disposed before the face or on top of the head of the bearer.
Smith U.S. Pat. No. 3,514,785, is of some limited interest in disclosing a helmet which is part of a space suit and which may be automatically triggered to dispose itself about the head of the bearer.
The present invention provides a protective head covering assembly incorporating a degree of convenience, simplicity and flexibility of significant advantage to a user.
In accordance with the invention, a protective covering assembly for protecting the head of a bearer, includes: a protective covering for the head of the bearer which incorporates a flexible protective shield, a collapsible frame, attached to the shield for supporting the shield about the head of the bearer, the frame including a plurality of support ribs for the shield attached to one another, and covering attaching means attached to the shield for attaching the covering to the garment; and garment attaching means attached to the garment, which incorporates means for mating with said covering attaching means to attach the covering to the garment.
The covering attaching means and garment attaching means may detachably attach to each other and, for example, include snaps for such purpose. Also, the frame may include a front base member or portion for the assembly, which is attached to the ribs, and the garment attaching means may include another base member or portion for the assembly, for example, including a collar for the garment. With the assembly in position, such base portions may encircle the bearer about the head region, with the front portion to the front of the bearer and the other portion to the rear of the bearer.
In accordance with other aspects of the invention, a collapsible protective covering assembly for protecting the head of a bearer includes: a flexible protective shield; and a collapsible frame attached to the shield for supporting the shield about the head of the bearer; wherein the frame has a first configuration for spreading the protective shield in a first configuration for protecting the head of the bearer and a second configuration for spreading the protective shield in a second configuration for protecting the head of the bearer.
In accordance with yet other aspects of the invention, a protective covering assembly for protecting the head of a bearer, includes: a base, incorporating a front base member; a plurality of ribs attached to the base; a flexible protective shield attached to the base and to the ribs, which has at least two protective and one non-protective configurations, and which includes a first flexible portion for shielding at least a part of the face of the bearer and a second flexible portion for shielding at least part of the remainder of the head of the bearer; wherein the base member has an open configuration with respect to a rib for spreading the first portion of the shield in a protective configuration and a collapsed configuration with respect to the rib for bunching the portion of the shield in a non-protective configuration; and wherein the ribs have an open configuration with respect to one another for spreading the second portion of the shield in a protective configuration and a collapsed configuration with respect to one another for bunching the portion in a non-protective configuration.